“What happened to you?” Thomas asked.

Gabriel gave him an impatient look. “Don’t ask.” There was no way he could explain his visit to a witch. Besides, he was the boss and didn’t owe anybody an explanation. Gabriel’s eyes scanned Maya’s body for any injuries. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, but said nothing. Instead, she sought shelter in his chest as if she hadn’t noticed his damp and messy clothes. Gabriel welcomed her trust in him, yet wondered why she felt comfortable with him. He was just as much a stranger to her as the others—a rather wet stranger at that.

As he put his arm around her back, he looked back at his colleagues. “Explain yourselves.” He caught Yvette’s look, which focused on his arm around Maya. The flash in her eyes could only be interpreted as jealousy. The realization caught him by surprise. He’d never given Yvette any reason to believe that he was even remotely interested in her other than as a valued colleague. Or had he leaned on her too much for companionship and she’d interpreted him wrongly?

“She spit out the blood,” Thomas claimed. “We called the doc, and he said to get her to drink.”

“Where’s Drake?”

“On his way,” Thomas replied.

Gabriel pulled away slightly from Maya to look at her face. “Is that true, that you didn’t want to drink the blood?”

“It’s disgusting! It tastes vile. It makes me puke,” she spat.

“We weren’t lying,” Zane snapped.

Gabriel shot him a furious look. “And I guess it was your idea to restrain her and force her to feed.” He didn’t need to wait for Zane’s answer to know he was right. “May I remind you that this is not World War II, and you’re not in a torture chamber.”

Zane’s eyes narrowed. Gabriel watched as the cords in his second-in-command’s neck bulged. At the same time, he felt Maya’s body tense. Her instincts were sharp, he realized instantly. Zane had a short temper and a vicious streak. Violence was a way of life for him, and she was right to fear him.

“Whatever works.” Zane’s voice was cold and devoid of any emotion. If he wasn’t such a great fighter, Gabriel would have fired him years ago. But it was smarter to have Zane fighting on their side rather than the enemy’s. And once Zane chose a side, he stuck with it. Where his fierce loyalty stemmed from, Gabriel could only guess, but knew he’d never know the true reason.

“You ever touch her again, I’ll kill you,” Gabriel warned, then swept his gaze over the other two. “That goes for all of you. Maya is under my personal protection. You harm her, you get to deal with me.”

The shocked looks on his colleagues’ faces told him that they took his threat seriously—as they should. He never made empty treats, and he never bluffed. And he was the worst poker player ever for that very reason.

“Good.” Gabriel turned his attention back to Maya. He was all too aware that he still held her in his arms, and maybe at this moment she felt the same awkwardness that he experienced, because she suddenly stepped out of his hold.

“Yvette was trying to force the blood down my throat when I’d already told her that it was making me gag,” Maya said.

Yvette took a step forward. “I gave her the best-quality stuff. She’s making it sound like I fed her animal blood.”

“That’s not what I said. The taste and smell of it makes me sick. I can’t drink it. Don’t you get that?” Maya fisted her hands at her hips and stared at Yvette.

Not wanting a cat fight on his watch, Gabriel raised his hand. “Okay, let’s just go over this in detail. Yvette, what did you give her?”

“Nothing I wouldn’t drink myself.” When Gabriel raised his eyebrow, she continued, “First the O-positive bottle, then even the O-neg. You know Samson always has the best supplies. But she wouldn’t even drink O-neg. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Maybe I’m allergic,” Maya interrupted.

“Impossible,” Thomas answered.

“Unheard of,” Zane agreed with his colleague. “Vampires aren’t allergic to blood.”

Gabriel nodded. He had to agree with them. Never in his long life had he heard of a vampire who would be repulsed by human blood. “Maya, a newly turned vampire’s overwhelming thirst makes sure you drink whatever human blood is available. It’s instinct, pure and simple.”

Maya’s other instincts seemed to be working just fine—her instant response to Zane’s aggression had shown Gabriel that she was fully attuned to her natural sense of self-preservation, but why she wouldn’t feed, he couldn’t explain.